


Stormfront

by TeamTired



Series: The 120 Pairing Challenge [14]
Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Police, Blindness, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Character Death, F/F, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Good Cop Bad Cop, Humanstuck, Law Enforcement, Lawyers, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Police
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-15
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-10 01:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamTired/pseuds/TeamTired
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a mental breakdown, Officer Sollux Captor is transferred out of Homicide and into the hands of the ever capable Officer Egbert. But when a serial killer remains at large, the two have to work together to catch the killer before he strikes again.</p>
<p>Later, District Attorney Terezi Pyrope prepares to prosecute one of the biggest cases of her life, while simultaneously rekindling a romance with her old rival, Vriska.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Officers Egbert and Captor walked their beat through the gleaming city of Prospit, their eyes  
carefully attuned to look for miscreants and ruffians. Sollux spied a young man, no more than 16, toss a piece of litter into the street. He rushed forward and pinned the kid against the wall of a nearby building and began yelling. 

“Freeze criminal scum! You are hereby cited with the crime of littering, pursuant to Section 253 Article III of the city bylaws. Your signature is required to confirm receipt of the citation and is not an admission of guilt.”

Meanwhile, Officer Egbert ran into the street to grab to errant drink container and deposit it in a nearby trashcan. By the time he made his way over to Officer Sollux, he had to tear him off to get to the poor kid that had been smushed against the wall. 

“Sorry about that sir! Officer Captor got a little carried away there. What he meant to say is that littering is bad, because it makes our city a less beautiful place to live, and it doesn’t make much sense, because our amazing mayor put garbage cans everywhere! So next time you need to throw something away, just look there! We’re going to let you off with a warning this time, but shape up or next time you might face a fine!”

The kid rolled his eyes at John’s speech and kept his eyes on Sollux. After backing up for a few seconds, he turned and ran. 

“Sollux don’t you remember our talk about proper police behavior? Our motto is to protect and serve, not beat up kids and scare people!”

Sollux just huffed and began to walk away. Since Sollux’s breakdown and transfer from Homicide, John had been working his hardest to get Sollux accustomed to desk work and regular patrols through some of the more peaceful sections of Prospit. 

The two returned to their patrol car, and as John opened the driver’s side door, the two-way at the front of the car erupted as the dispatcher’s voice filled the air.

“Calling all cars, we have a 505-alpha in progress on LOWAS Avenue, requesting any available squad cars for intercept west of Salamander Boulevard.”

John turned to Sollux. 

“Hey that’s us! We could get pretty fast, with enough time to set up a barricade! Let’s get going!”

John grabbed the handset of the two way and spoke into it.  
“Roger that Aradia, this is squad car 413, on intercept to the intersection of Turtle Street and LOWAS Avenue.”

It was at this moment that Sollux spoke up.

“You know John I could get us there a lot faster, you always drive so damn slow...”

John only laughed and slipped into the driver’s seat, careful to clip his seatbelt on. 

“Sollux you know I promised the Chief that I wouldn’t let you drive until your psyche eval checked out! Especially not in a high speed chase like this one!”

Sollux groaned and slid into the passenger seat, buckling his own seatbelt in the process and quickly slouching down into his seat. John hummed to himself as he merged into traffic and made his way to Turtle Street. He looked over to Sollux and cleared his throat. 

“Officer Captor would you do me the honor of activating the lights and siren?”

Sollux let go another sigh and flipped on the lights and siren, which immediately brought a goofy grin to John’s face. Though John much preferred being a PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY and DESK WORK to high speed chases, there was something about the siren and flashing lights that made him feel like he was really truly a POLICE OFFICER, which felt awesome. 

As the cars in front of the squad car pulled out of the way, John applied the acceleration and sped towards the intersection. When they finally arrived, the two officers set up barricades and laid down road traps to prevent the runaway vehicle from getting any farther. As the car barreled into video Sollux nudged John.

“John give me your gun.”

“No Sollux! The Chief said no guns until you cleared your eval!”

“The car isn’t going to stop, the barrier isn’t going to hold, let me take the shot!”

“The car will stop, don’t worry!”

As the car slammed into the police barricades, both of the officers winced, but the car stopped in its tracks. Sollux looked to John, who gave him an affirmative nod. He sprinted towards the vehicle and threw its doors open. After taking a moment to make sure the driver was unharmed, he slapped him into handcuffs and threw him into John’s custody. John took joy in informing the now arrested driver as to his rights as he secured him in the back of the police cruiser. 

Back at the station, the Chief called them in for a special assignment. 

John sat down in one of the chairs in Police Chief Equius’ office, but Sollux elected to stand. His eyes were red and puffy, as if he had been crying recently. Sollux and John flashed each other a look. The Chief was the strongest damn policeman Prospit City had ever known. Naturally, the two of them ignored the Chief’s obvious signs of distress. Equius was a proud man, and the best way his men could respect that was to just get on with the mission. 

Equius reached into his desk and pulled out two folders. One he slid across the desk to John, the other he tossed to Sollux. 

“Homicide’s had a case they’ve been working on for a few weeks now, real scumbag. Serial murderer. Uses some kind of high caliber weapon, leaves his victims with huge holes in them. ”

Equius turned in his chair to look out the window at the setting sun. For a moment, he was totally lost in thought. 

“He struck again last night, got one of our own. We’ve been keeping information on a need to know basis, as much as for morale as any other reason.”

John and Sollux flipped open their folders, and there clipped to the top was a picture of a body, a gaping bloody hole in the middle. At the same time, John and Sollux realized who the victim was. John did everything he could to stop himself from vomiting, and ended up just slumping down in his chair, head in his hands. Sollux punched the wall he was standing next to and then completely lost himself. He grabbed a nearby chair and threw it across the office, leaving another dent in the wall.

The body belonged to Lieutenant Leijon, head of Homicide. 

“The bastard, excuse my language, must have realized she was getting close. Got her just as she was getting home last night. Everyone else is stumped, we need your expertise Captor. I don’t need to tell you this just got personal, for every darn officer in Prospit. Leijon was a darn fine officer and the best darn friend I ever knew, and we’re disgracing her memory if we don’t send this monster to the chair.”

John and Sollux only gave the Chief a respectful nod and walked out, Sollux in the lead. Sollux walked towards the armory and asked John for his key. 

“Come on Egbert, do you really expect me to go on a murder investigation tracking a bastard who took down one of our finest with no fucking weapon?”

“Sollux you know that Equius would have my head if I let you have a weapon before your eval. But here’s what we can do: I can put in a good word for you with the station psychiatrist, we’re old friends. If everything goes right I can probably get you a probationary weapon by tomorrow. In the meantime let’s get down to the ballistics lab and see what they dug up!”

Sollux grumbled in agreement, but John could tell that under his pessimism and gruff demeanor, he appreciated what John had been doing for him. 

An hour later, Sollux was seated across from Rose Lalonde in one of the conference rooms of the station. 

“Naturally everything you say here will be kept in the strictest confidence. Though I am preparing a report for the Chief, it will include only the opinions and conclusions that I have reached regarding your service here. This evaluation is voluntary, though necessary to secure full status on the force again.”

Rose looked across to Sollux, who grunted in acknowledgement. 

“To start, tell me about the incident that placed you on probation. Tell me what happened from your perspective. Why did you feel that behavior was necessary? Do you feel that you would take the same course of action today? Do you have any regrets?”

Sollux gritted his teeth and leaned forward to respond.

“I know you’ve got the report on it in front of you, why should I bother repeating it?”

Rose shook her head slightly. 

“Because what you did isn’t important. We all know what you did. Why you did it is the more important part. I need to know if you’d do the same thing again in similar circumstances.”

“Why does anyone even give a shit about what I did? It wasn’t even that big a deal!”

Rose could see that her tactics weren’t working and decided to switch gears. 

“Cut the crap Captor. You assaulted two people in broad daylight in uniform. You are an officer of the law, not a fucking vigilante. You want to ruff up perps go somewhere where people don’t have rights. But here, in Prospit City, it doesn’t matter how confident you are of someone’s guilt, you don’t attack them and you certainly don’t attack their attorney. You let the courts figure it out. You want to pass judgement? Find another damn career.”

Sollux was absolutely stunned. He had never heard a psychiatrist talk like that, and it was the first time someone had been honest about the incident a month ago. 

“Now they cut you a break because you’re the best damn cop Homicide ever had, outside of Lt. Leijon, God rest her soul. But you need a level head if ever want to work again. Now I need you to tell me why you did it, and tell me if you’d do it again.”

After taking a minute to collect himself, Sollux spoke up.

“I did it because I thought I had to. I did it because I didn’t think anyone else would. I wanted justice Dr. Lalonde. The way that slimeball and her client walked out of the courthouse that day, I could tell by the looks on their faces that they were going to get an innocent verdict. That trial was a mess and you know it, the judge was a total clown and the jury was totally mindless, that attorney had them under her spell the whole time.”

“And why were you so sure that he was guilty?”

“Because I had seen the evidence! Heard the facts! I couldn’t stand to watch a man I knew was guilty get away with blinding the DA and almost killing Aradia! And you know Aradia’s never been the same way since!”

“So you’ve given me motive. But you know as well as I do that motive’s not enough. What caused you to take the extra step, to act on your impulse?”

“She played me Dr. Lalonde, that damn attorney played me like a fiddle. She taunted me throughout the proceedings, made me watch as she destroyed our evidence and led the jury every step of the way.

“And then she made me think that maybe justice could be taken outside of the system. While she was taking with one hand, she was offering with another. She knew that I would take things into my own hands, that I couldn’t resist the temptation to dole out the justice when the system failed.”

“I see, so where do we go from here? Can we trust you to leave your judicious impulses on the sidelines, or do we have to worry about you ruining another case by refusing to let the system do its work?”

Sollux looked to the ground in shame.

“You can trust me.”

“Well usually I’d like to do a more thorough evaluation and perhaps a follow up, but given the grave nature of our circumstances and the glowing recommendation you received from Officer Egbert, I’m inclined to allow you back on as a full member of the force. Though my full report won’t be on the Chief’s desk until tomorrow, expect to pick up your gun tomorrow. Have a good day Officer Captor.”

With that Rose stood up, shook Sollux’s and walked out. 

When Sollux walked into the hallway, he found John waiting outside for him

“How’d it go?”

“It went well, at least I think it did.”

“Fantastic! Dr. Lalonde is the absolute best isn’t she? Well let’s get down to the lab, Ballistics had some new information on the case.”

As the pair walked downstairs into the concrete basement that housed the shooting range and ballistics lab, John called out for the in-house firearms expert. 

“Dr. Harley? Are you in? We were looking to get that new information on the serial case!”

Jade poked her head up from beneath a workshop bench.

“Oh hey John! Officer Captor! Good to see you guys! Yeah, I’ve been working on some ballistics analysis, and I’ve got some pretty strange results! I won’t bore you with the details, but I don’t think the holes in the victims were made with a firearm at all! I found traces of cauterization, and some weirdly high radiation levels. Plus since there’s no energy burns outside the wound site and if we assume this guy is living to kill again, I’d have to guess that we’re looking for some sort of long-range energy weapon, something we’ve never seen before.”

John looked at Dr. Harley with a look of clear confusion.

“An ENERGY weapon? You’re trying to tell us that there’s some crazy guy running around our city with a giant laser beam?”

“Strictly speaking, no, a laser the result of a stimulation of protons, this weapon is much more radioactive, possibly involving gamma rays or some other type of emission.

If it’s any consolation, such a weapon would require a massive energy source and generate a massive amount of noise when fired.”

Sollux finally spoke up.

“All three of the murders took place during thunderstorms.”

John perked up immediately. 

“We’ve got a clear forecast for the next two days before the storms move in! We have just enough time to crack the case!”

Sollux nudged John.

“Oh right! Hey Dr. Harley do you think we could recertify Sollux real quick?”

After Jade nodded in agreement and led the officers to the shooting range, Sollux held his hand out for a gun. John placed his standard issue in Sollux’s palm.

In the blink of an eye, Sollux ejected the clip, checked for a bullet in the barrel, reloaded, and turned on the safety, placing the gun on the bench of the range facing the targets. Then he grabbed a pair of goggles and earplugs, and after John and Jade put in their own earplugs, he started firing. Second later, after the noise and smoke of the powder had faded, John and Jade looked over the targets of the range. Each one had two holes in it, through both of the eyes of the person-shaped targets.  


“Too easy.”

Dr. Harley collected herself and shut her jaw long enough to fill out the paperwork granting Sollux certification and give him back his service pistol. 

“If you could get someone to toss an H&K with scope and a geiger counter into patrol car it’d be appreciated. Let’s go John, we got crime scenes to analyze.”

As John and Sollux walked back upstairs to the Chief’s office, John finally spoke up.

“So where do we start?”

“Means, motive, and opportunity, as always. I’d like to double check the crime scenes to see if Homicide missed anything, maybe try to figure out where he fired from, now that we know what kind of weapon he’s using. From there we should figure out how the victims are connected. Leijon was onto something, but I don’t believe in coincidences, and serial killers don’t make mistakes like killing a cop unless the cop was on the list to begin with. Then we just wait it out, catch him in the act.”

As the officers climbed into the squad car, John couldn’t help but feel a surge of exhilaration. Though he had always been sure he didn’t have the skills or nerves for Homicide, here he was, on track to catch a real murderer! 

When they reached the first scene, it was obvious to John they wouldn’t find much at all. The body had been removed days ago, and even the scant traces of blood had been cleaned up. When John looked over to Sollux, he saw that he was already deep in thought, mentally analyzing the photos from the folder and the scene itself. John himself was stumped.

“See anything?”

Sollux flashed a toothy smile. 

“I sure do Egbert. Take a look at this wall. See the scorch mark here, where some of the brick has been removed? I have a hunch that if we checked it with the counter, we’d get some residual radiation.”

He went silent for a minute, tracing a line from the scene through the missing chunk of brick of the wall’s corner. 

“Grab the counter and after you check this wall, meet me at the top of that building there.” he said, pointing to a distant abandoned apartment building. 

Sollux’s suspicions were confirmed a few minutes later, when both locations had abnormally high levels of radiation, consistent with the victims. After a few mental calculations, Sollux was able to estimate the effective range of the beam weapon. 

Two hours later, John and Sollux were standing before Chief Zahhak’s desk again, evidence in hand. 

“I have a few ideas concerning motive as well. Nitram ran the pound, Maryam was in the arts community, and Leijon was obviously one of us. But all three were involved in politics. And all three received the funds they asked for in the last budget. I think we should look for our next victim among the parties that benefitted from the last city budget, and look out for our murderer in the groups that were slighted.”

The Chief nodded his head.

“Darn fine work Captor.”

As the sun set over Prospit City, the officers prepared to go home. 

“So who do you think is next?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Oh come on Sollux! We’re partners! You can share with me, I don’t even care if you’re wrong!”

“I’m not afraid that I’m wrong, Egbert, I’m afraid I might be right.”

The next morning, the officers paid a visit to Prospit University on a hunch. A series of interviews and record checks confirmed their suspicions: the university’s research budget had been slashed in the last year, and many of the professors were unhappy about the interruption to their work. But time and time again, one name kept coming up: Dr. Ampora. Apparently his work on a portable nuclear generator had been cut short due to cost and safety concerns, and he hadn't been seen in days. When John and Sollux went to check his lab, they found nothing: no notes, no equipment, and no results. 

“Bingo.”

While Sollux stayed behind to see if anything else could be found in the lab, John went to interview Dr. Ampora’s students. When he returned, he had a litany of complaints and suspicions from the student body. 

“Turns out this guy didn’t have very many friends! Ever his TA’s called him ‘demanding’ and ‘sociopathic’, and everyone agreed that he spent way too much time down in his lab. Plus there were rumors he would hit on students after class, but I couldn’t find any proof of that. Does that help any Sollux?”

“It just might. I’m going to take what I could recover back to Dr. Harley at the station lab, maybe we can figure out where he’s keeping this thing.”

The next two days were quiet and uncomfortable at the station, with everyone working as hard as possible to get the data Sollux needed to make his next big breakthrough in the case. With the Ampora trail cold, Sollux realized he had no choice but to try to catch him in the act. 

Just before closing time on the last day before the storm, Sollux took John aside.

“Storm’s moving in tomorrow. Dr. Harley couldn’t figure out how to track this Ampora character, which means we catch him tomorrow, before he kills again.”

“So who’s he going after?”

Sollux dropped his voice low, as if what he was about to say next was so profane he wasn’t comfortable speaking it. 

“Peixes. Feferi Peixes. Head of the teacher’s union and the one that ordered the research cuts to help keep the teachers employed.”

John’s face went totally white. 

“But weren’t you guys...”

“Yeah, she’s my ex, and yes I still have feelings for her. It won’t get in the way of my job, so don’t bother asking. Let’s get out of here, we’ve got a long day tomorrow.”

But Sollux didn’t sleep a wink that night. He couldn’t stop thinking about the Vantas case, how he didn’t crack it until it was too late and the revolutionary made good on his promise, how he failed the DA and Aradia, and how he ultimately just played into Vriska’s hands. 

And then came the visions of Feferi: the reminders of his failed marriage, the sting of loss when she told him that she simply wasn’t interested anymore, and the constant longing for her that he felt every day, underneath it all. 

When the sun finally appeared behind the Prospit skyline, Sollux felt drained and tired, but he didn’t have any choice but to get up and face the day, a storm was coming. 

He had John call Feferi and warn her not to leave the apartment that night, that her life was in danger. Then he assigned every available officer to her building, watching every entrance. Sollux himself canvassed the area around the building, looking for anywhere that Dr. Ampora could set up his weapon. 

As the clouds rolled in, Sollux set up his rifle and a set of binoculars on the roof of a building near Feferi’s building, slightly closer than the effective range of the beam weapon. Meanwhile, John was standing inside Feferi’s apartment, guarding the door.

As the rain started, Sollux gritted his teeth and settled in for a long wet night. When the first crash of thunder and flash of lightning appeared, Sollux jumped and radioed in to check with John, who assured him everything was still okay. For three hours, Sollux sat in the rain, remaining vigilant. 

And then it happened in an instant. Sollux saw a flash a green lightening cut across the sky, arcing toward’s Feferi’s building. As he radioed in to John to warn him to keep Feferi away from the windows, the crack of the loudest thunder he had ever heard filled his ears. The next few moments happened in slow motion. He saw the glass pane of the apartment's windows smash, half-melted by the past, and he heard her familiar voice, twisted into an inhuman scream. 

Sollux twisted his body towards the source of the green lightning. Though the whole ordeal took only four seconds, he feared he was already too late. His guilt and sorrow took over, crushing him from the inside. Then John’s voice cut across the two-way. 

“Officer Captor, I need you to listen to me. I need you to be a cop right now. This isn’t about judgement, this isn’t about revenge. You need to catch this guy, no more no less. Clear your head and take the shot. Nothing else matters.”

Something in John’s words caught Sollux, and triggered something deep inside him. As he lowered his eye to the scope of the rifle, he was totally automatic, there was no feeling, nothing at all.  
The first shot missed, striking the brick behind the figure, who immediately turned to run towards the apartment's rooftop entrance. The next instant was a cacophony of noise: the single heartbeat in Sollux’s chest, the single breath he gave himself, the click of the next bullet cycling into the chamber, the wail of the ambulance coming for a doomed Feferi, and yet another peal of thunder. 

As Sollux breathed out, he steadied the scope and took another shot, just as the figure was running through the doorway, the bullet passed through his leg, knocking him down the flight of stairs. Completely monotone, Sollux announced on the radio that the suspect was downed in the apartment building on LOWAA Street, and ordered all available units there immediately. 

From there, everything was a blur. Sollux felt himself collapse on the rooftop, utterly overwhelmed. He lost track of time as the steady drip of rain, the crash of thunder, and the flash of lightning made a rhythm that utterly consumed him. His face was so soaked with rain and tears that he couldn’t tell where he ended and the storm began. 

An eternity later, Sollux felt John’s hands on his face. The two sat there in perfect silence, letting the storm do the talking for them. As John lifted Sollux to a seated position, the two locked eyes and continued to say nothing. When John finally did speak up, he didn’t offer any words of congratulations or consolation, because he knew it wouldn’t help. 

Instead he just reached out, one officer to another. As he hugged Sollux on that drenched rooftop, John tried to communicate everything he needed through that single embrace. He tried to tell Sollux that everything would be okay now, that Sollux was the best damn cop he had ever seen, and that Sollux had put a serial murderer behind bars. He hugged an extra bit that tried to say that he was deeply sorry about Feferi, that he had never felt loss like Sollux did and he couldn’t hope to understand. 

And maybe, somewhere, Sollux understood all that, and he hugged back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi prepares to prosecute the Ampora case, and manages to rekindle her old flame with Vriska in the process.

Terezi woke that morning to a field of blackness, as she had every day since the accident. It had been over a year since she was blinded, 6 months since the Vantas case, and 5 months since Dr. Ampora was caught, ending his murder spree. 

But while her coping got better every day, being blind never got any easier. As she felt around on her nightstand, her hand wrapped around her glasses. Though she didn’t need them anymore, there was something comforting about knowing she could still wear the color red, even if she couldn’t see it anymore. Next came the cane. Though she knew the path through her apartment carefully, the daily practice with the cane every morning helped. 

More coping. 

She made her way to her closet. As she rested her hands on each hanger, she quickly deduced what each one held, thanks to a system of tags she implemented not long after the attack. She picked a sleek red dress with teal trimmings. She set it aside and moved into her kitchen. She didn’t trust herself with cooking anything complicated yet, especially since even before the accident she was more of a gourmand and less of a chef. She loved food, especially well prepared food, but she didn’t care much how it arrived at her table. As she moved around the kitchen, she recited her mental map to keep her bearings.

Three steps forward, hand outstretched, open cabinet, first shelf is bowls. Spoons in the drawer below, exact center. Turn to the left, one step, table. Turn totally around, four steps, refrigerator, milk is in the door. 

She prepared her breakfast with no problems and no spills. As she placed her bowl in the sink, she heard her door buzzer sound and the pounding of knocking. She yelled that she would be just a minute, and grabbing her cane, ran to her bedroom. An instant later, she was dressed and doing her makeup, and brushing her hair and her teeth. After the basics, doing her makeup was the first thing she made sure she could do blind. It wouldn’t do to have the District Attorney of Prospit City showing up in court without looking her best. 

She slipped into a pair of red high heels (farthest on the left, shoes organized according to the rainbow) and ran to the door. 

Standing there was Dave Strider, ADA and all around cool dude. 

“Hey. Damn you look good.”

Terezi cackled and took Dave’s outstretched arm. 

“Why thank you kind sir. Now let us go and prosecute the guilty!”

As they strided towards the apartment's elevator, Dave couldn’t help but be amazed by how positive Terezi was. Every day she dealt with murderers and thieves and the scum of the earth, but she never felt anything but joy at being alive. As he guided her down the street towards his parked car, they discussed the upcoming trial. Just before his apprehension, Dr. Ampora had somehow triggered a self-destruct of his weapon, leaving the prosecution with no murder weapon and the testimony of one police officer, himself infamous for attacking the defendant and his attorney at the close of the Vantas case. 

Dave helped Terezi into the passenger side of his car and climbed in, driving towards the Prospit City Courthouse. When they arrived, Terezi proudly marched up the stairs towards the door, while Dave ran up to hold the door for her. They made their way to Terezi’s office on the second floor after passing through security. 

As she sat down, she turned to Dave.

“Did the station turn up any more evidence? I’m meeting with them for a plea bargain in a few hours and I need everything I can get.”

“Nope, sorry. Looks like you’re stuck with what they’ve already sent over."

You need anything before I head out? I’ve got a few cases I’ve gotta look over today.”

“Nope, I’ll give you a call if I need you, but I should be okay, as far as that word ever applies to interactions with Ms. Serket...”

Dave was just about to walk out when he turned around and saw Terezi, already at work planning her case for the Ampora trial. 

“Hey.

Good luck out there. You’ve taken a lot of shit from her in the past and come out swinging. 

Just keep on being yourself.”

Dave flashed a rare smile, and though he knew Terezi couldn’t see it, he figured she could probably still hear it in his voice, in some small way. He didn’t wait for a response before walking out. 

Time flew as Terezi made plans and counterplans against Vriska. The clock finally chimed noon, and Terezi collected her notes and audio recordings, grabbed her bright red leather briefcase and walked towards the conference room marked for plea bargains.

When she got there, Vriska and Eridan had already arrived. As she grabbed a chair and sat down across from them, she heard Vriska’s distinct snicker and smelled a reek of sweat and desperation that could only be Dr. Ampora. Despite his attorney's competence, Eridan had done poorly in prison, that much was obvious to Terezi. She couldn’t manage to suppress a small grin. This might be easy. 

She had learned years ago that the trick to playing against Vriska was to start big. Start small and Vriska would hold you to your words, but start big and you had plenty of room to retreat. That worked until you ran out of places to retreat to. But that’s what counterattacks and escape plans are for.

“We have enough evidence to put you away for four consecutive life sentences, with a very good chance you’ll be executed Mr. Ampora. The system is not kind to cop killers. I offer you the chance to avoid the spectacle and stress of a trial.

If you accept the plea bargain, you will be committed for life, with optional psychiatric counseling and no chance of death row.”

Terezi leaned back slightly as Vriska retorted. She wasn’t surprised that Eridan didn’t speak a word, Vriska kept her clients on a tight leash, especially the talkative ones. 

“I don’t want to spoil the surprise at the trial next week Ms. Pyrope, but we have reason to believe that I can get a not-guilty verdict with no effort at all!

So here is my counter offer: six months probation, forty hours community service, an apology by the state for smearing Dr. Ampora’s good name, and nothing goes on his record.”

Terezi knew Vriska was trying to get a rise out of her, but she couldn’t help but laugh. She turned towards the direction of the distinct smell of fear.

“Dr. Ampora, I would be remiss if I did not remind you that Ms. Serket is not infallible, and this is your only chance to get out of this mess worry free. Once you walk out that door, you are walking down a path that only leads to the glorious retribution of justice.”

Terezi let her smile grow. Intimidation always had been her favorite trick.

“And I do so love justice."  


Eridan said nothing and Vriska remained silent. Terezi knew that Vriska was plotting her next move. Terezi was playing boldly today, and she hoped that it threw Vriska off.

“Well it seems fairly obvious to me that you’ve been consumed by theatrics again. If you don’t wish to consider my clients offer, then we have nothing left to say to you. Good day madam.”

Terezi was disappointed, it seemed Vriska wasn’t interested in the game right now. That was fine with Terezi. She went to fetch the guards, and Eridan and Vriska walked past her, she could hear a small whimper escape Eridan’s mouth. Whatever Vriska was up to, Eridan didn’t feel confident. 

Terezi made her way back to her office and sat down in her chair. The next few days would be filled with paperwork, interviews, double and triple checks, and intricate planning. She hated this part of the case, the paperwork and the scampering about. Once Vriska was removed from the situation, everything had a habit of being much less interesting. 

As the day drew to a close, she heard her clock announce 7 pm. She had somehow worked straight through dinner and closing time. Then she heard a knock on her door. She looked up out of habit towards the direction of the knock. As the knocker spoke, Terezi breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn’t forgotten about her. 

“Hey Pyrope. You ready to snap out of your weird planning coma and get your ass home?

“Yeah, thanks for sticking around.”

“You know it’s not a problem for you girl.”

Terezi cleaned up her desk and threw everything she could into her briefcase. Though she knew the way to the garage, she still snapped out her cane and took Dave’s arm. It felt nice to have someone to rely on. Once the two were in the car, Dave spoke up again. 

“Hey you need me to stop somewhere or something? You looked pretty hungry working in there.”

Terezi shook her head no.

“No, I think I shall turn in early tonight, I’ll just fix myself something at home.”

Dave shrugged. 

“Suit yourself.”

Twenty minutes later, Terezi was home and changed into a terribly comfortable bathrobe. As she poked at a sandwich made complete with stale bread, she sighed. Just then, a rap at her door shattered the silence of her lonely apartment. It took her only a moment to deduce that Dave had not returned. His knocks were soft and respectful, the knocks of a man that was cool and wanted you to know it. These knocks were fast and impatient, the knocks of someone that had places to be. 

When Terezi flung open her apartment door, she was hardly surprised by the voice that greeted her. 

“Good to see you Ms. Pyrope, I wish you could say the same!”

She took a minute to laugh at her own joke. Terezi didn’t mind, smug self-satisfaction was just another of Vriska’s easily exploitable weaknesses. Though Terezi had been stewing all day over being stymied at the plea bargain, she was tired and in no mood for Vriska’s games. 

“What the hell do you want Serket.”

Vriska brought her hand up to Terezi’s face, brushing it against her cheek and nudging her glasses in the process.

“Oh I think you know...”

Terezi’s mind flashed to their late night liaisons, and the multiple desks defiled in the process. Though it was unseemly for the DA to be cavorting with the most infamous defense attorney in Prospit City, let alone pursuing a relationship with her, Terezi didn’t care. It was their secret, and for all Terezi knew, the only thing that Vriska actually held sacred. There was something about the tension that built up between them that begged to be released this way, something about the subtext in every move of their elaborate game. 

But the Vantas case had changed all that, hadn’t it? Vriska grew colder and more despondent, and Terezi lost interest. Since then so much had changed, could things really go back to the way they were?

Apparently Vriska though so. Without waiting for Terezi, she moved her right arm to Terezi’s hips and wrapped her left arm around Terezi’s neck, pushing her back into the apartment. Terezi knew she could stop this if she wanted, but when Vriska’s lips met hers, she knew she had no interest in anything else. Vriska’s wandering hands moved across Terezi’s body, the right one making its way into Terezi’s robe and wrapping itself around her waist pulling her closer, the left moving up to her ears, knocking Terezi’s glasses off in the process. 

Terezi’s hands found themselves exploring Vriska’s attire. Short skirt, length carefully calculated, silky smooth top, the perfect mix of allure and comfort. But then she felt Vriska’s hands retreat and slap her away. 

“Tut tut Ms. DA. You know our arrangement well enough. That was simply payment for the lack of stimulation today. I am terribly sorry for that by the way. But you know how much I hate revealing my plans before they’re ready.”

Terezi knew that this was all a game to her, everything was a game to Vriska. But she didn’t care. In that instant, the chase was on again, the challenge had been made. Terezi heard the door to her apartment slam shut and the retreating footsteps of Vriska’s heels. She dropped to the ground and felt around for her glasses, and once she recovered them, she quickly disposed of her sandwich and got ready for bed, all with a smile on her face. 

The game was afoot. 

The adrenaline from Vriska’s late night visit was enough to keep Terezi up for the next few hours, utterly consumed with planning and plotting. Her sleep was light and she woke up with the sunrise, jerking awake at the first feeling of warmth on her face. Before she got dressed, however, she did a double check on her apartment, sweeping every surface she could think of. Nothing was out of place and nothing was missing, and though she didn’t think Vriska would stoop so low as to mess with the blind lady’s apartment as a prank, Terezi didn’t feel like risking it. 

The days between then and the trial flew by, especially since Terezi knew she had something to look for. She told nobody, but she suspected that Dave would catch on quickly that something was afoot. Of all the people that worked in the DA’s office, Dave was the most perceptive by far, but even he said nothing. 

When Terezi arrived in her office the day of the trial, she was informed that a dictated recording of stipulations was waiting for her. She knew Vriska well enough that there was never anything interesting in the stipulations, just a few pre-trial tricks to keep her on her feet, a courtesy more than anything. That meant picking out a few of Vriska’s gems before getting back to work.

“Stipulation 8: Vriska Serket is the best lawyer ever, and Terezi Pyrope gives up already.  
Stipulation 14: Eridan Ampora does not exist.

Stipulation 15: Terezi Pyrope committed the murder spree as a way of coping with how dumb she is.

Stipulation 16: A certain government employee knows full well that she will have to do her damndest in this trial if she plans on getting handsy tonight.”

Terezi could feel herself blush when she heard stipulation 16 and immediately shut the recorder off, hoping nobody had heard. After making sure nobody was around, Terezi resumed checking off the stipulations, the rest of which were bland and uninspired. She was sure Vriska had some poor intern write these for her, and then inserted her own flair just before submitting them. Terezi made a recording affirming the majority of the stipulations and denying Vriska’s additions, and then sent the tape via courier. 

The next two hours were anxious and stressful, made worse by the fact that Terezi knew she could do nothing further to improve her lot. She finally made her way to a conference room on the north side of the building, where she ran through her her case one more time with the witnesses. Feeling slightly more comfortable, Terezi and her witnesses marched towards courtroom one. 

Neither Terezi nor Vriska had bothered to stack the jury or bribe the judge ahead of time. Cheating was always welcome in their little games, but there were strict rules about what was permitted cheating and what sort of cheating betrayed weakness. Cheating was only fun if it took skill. 

As everyone took their seats, the bailiff called for everyone to rise for the honorable Judge Makara. Terezi let loose a massive internal sigh, but said nothing. Trials that Makara presided over tended to take forever. But on the positive side, he was impossible to influence. He would be an impartial, if unreliable third party. Perfect for their contest. 

After the stipulations were read onto the record, Terezi stood for her opening statement. She gracefully glided towards the jury bench, perfectly aware of her location in the courtroom. As she delivered her statement, she painted for the jury the picture of a desperate and angry man, whose knowledge was dangerous to himself as well as his enemies. She told them in great deal of a hare-brained revenge scheme, focused only on vengeance over some perceived slight. She carefully explained her burden of proof in this case, slowing down extra slow at this point. The jury members always felt important when she described how terribly vital their job was, which she knew would score her a few points. And then she slowed down even more as she reached the climax of the story. She them about the brave Officers Egbert and Captor, who skillfully caught the murderer red handed.  
Now Terezi was speaking as slow as molasses, but with no sweetness. She carefully explained to the jury that it was their job to render justice, the justice that civilized society so desperately needed. She spoke with carefully meted passion, a tone cultivated over years of practice. At the end, even she couldn’t help but be proud of her performance. 

She thanked them for their time and slowly walked back to her bench. Immediately, Judge Makara called for the Defence’s opening statement, and Vriska lept up. She wasn’t holding back today. 

Vriska spun a nasty web of confusion and doubt. She reminded the jury that nothing and nobody could truly be trusted, especially not the word of a biased police officer who had been rushed off out of probation. She reminded them of the preciousness of life, and the terrible burden of knowing that they could very well send an innocent man to his death. The story that Vriska told was similar to Terezi’s only in that it contained the same characters. Vriska told the story of a professor, who after suffering massive budget cuts and the theft of his life’s work, was now being accused, and without even any real proof! 

Vriska was quick to remind the jury that the prosecution had no murder weapon, no fingerprints, and no DNA evidence. Their burden was to prove guilt of these crimes beyond any reasonable doubt, which Vriska assured them would be impossible. 

It was at this point that Vriska paused for dramatic effect. 

When she addressed the jury again, she was pleading. She begged them not to be tricked by the nasty prosecution, who was looking to pin a set of freak accidents on an innocent professor who was already down on his luck. And then she brought it all home.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I ask that throughout today’s proceedings, you keep in mind the grave consequences of your actions here today. Please, be terribly careful, one misstep could mean the tragic death of an innocent man.”

Terezi was unphased. This was only step one. 

Her first witness was Dr. Harley, medical examiner, coroner, and ballistics expert for Prospit City PD. Terezi had Dr. Harley identify and describe scenes of the crime and pictures of the victim’s bodies, including the scorch marks on the wounds and crime scenes. Next, she described the unique radiation she detected on each of the victims, as well as on Dr. Ampora himself. 

First objection. Vriska rose and looked over at Terezi, knowing she couldn’t see her piercing gaze but hoping she could at least hear her scorn.  
“Your Honor, the evidence that resulted from the radiation testing of my client is inadmissible! The testing was done without consent or court order, and such information is not a matter of public record.”

Terezi naturally rose and protested.

“Your Honor this information was collected when the defendant was in custody, and the data is no more different than a fingerprint collected from a coffee cup.”

Judge Makara turned to Vriska for one more 

“I disagree. This test was outside normal procedure, and required the restraint of Dr. Ampora against his will for a reason other than his incarceration.”

The judge was included to agree and instructed the jury to ignore the last piece of testimony. 

“Dr. Harley, what conclusion did you reach after the analysis of the data collected from Dr. Ampora’s lab, as well as the crime scene data and the eyewitness testimony of Officer Captor?”

“Well, the same radiation found on each of the victims was also present in Dr. Ampora’s lab, and the size and shape of the wounds, as well as the cauterization of the wounds suggests that the deaths of Tavros Nitram, Kanaya Maryam, Lt. Nepeta Leijon, and Feferi Peixes were all caused by the same weapon, an energy weapon designed and implemented by Dr. Ampora.”

Vriska rose for a second objection. This time she was grinning from ear to ear. 

“Your Honor, while Dr. Harley is a recognized expert in the realms of firearms and medicine, I object to her conclusion that some scorch marks and radiation amount to an “energy weapon”, especially since prosecution will be unable to provide one. I ask that her conclusions that such a weapon exists, as well as the claim that each of the victims were killed by the same weapon be thrown out.”

This time the judge didn’t wait for a response from Terezi.

“I’m inclined to agree Ms. Pyrope. You know the drill jury.”

Terezi finished her direct examination and sat down. Now it was Vriska’s turn. She knew that she didn’t have much dirt on Harley, but she pushed forward anyway. As she cut through Dr. Harley’s data, methods, and conclusions, Vriska herself felt a pang of doubt. Terezi had come prepared this time. When Vriska was finished, Dr. Harley left the stand to be replaced by Officer Egbert. 

Terezi knew that Vriska would focus on Sollux’s credibility, so she decided to cut Vriska off as soon as possible. She started with John’s credentials, and his connection to the case, and then came the important question.

““Why was Officer Captor assigned to you?”

John didn’t even flinch. Perfect. 

““There was an incident a few months back...Officer Captor lost control of his sense of duty and assaulted the defendant of the case we were working on, as well as the defendant’s attorney.”

““And did that incident in any way detract from Officer Captor’s ability to perform as a policeman?”

John’s face brightened up.

““Of course not! Sollux had been running ragged in Homicide, and the stress of the Vantas case got to him. His outburst in no way reflected his professional ability as a policeman or his skills as a detective.”

Vriska grimaced. It was a risky move pulling this out into the open. It meant that the jury would hear it all twice. But at the same time she couldn’t help but feel Terezi was outplaying her. 

From there Terezi had Officer Egbert recount the story of their assignment to the case and the eventual arrest of Eridan Ampora. Then came the grand flourish.

““Do you have reason to believe that Office Captor’s conduct was improper, or his ability as a police officer impaired in a significant way during your work on this case?”

John smiled the biggest smile he could.

““Of course not! Sollux is the best damn cop I’ve ever met, and he would never let anything get in the way of him and his duty as an officer.”

The jury could tell he meant it, and Terezi allowed herself a silent victory lap in her mind.  
And then, like the inevitable swing of the pendulum, it was Vriska’s turn. 

She didn’t attack head on with Officer Egbert, she knew he was too strong willed to admit defeat quite so easily. So instead Egbert would defeat himself. 

““Officer Egbert how are you today? Doing well I hope?”

““I am! Thank you for asking!”

““Excellent. Naturally I’ve got some questions for you. Officer Sollux was put on probation after committing aggravated assault, the charges of which my gracious client and I dropped, isn’t that right?”

““Yes.”

““Now I hope you don’t mind refreshing my mind, but usually don’t probationary periods last minimum six months, and involve some time off from work?”

““Usually, yes, but there are some exceptions.”

““Exceptions like for Officer Captor, who had no time off, and was taken off of probation after just one month, isn’t that right?”

““Yes, but there were special circumstances...”

Vriska totally ignored John’s answer, and began to pace the courtroom ever so slightly, drawing the jury’s eyes. 

““Now as his partner, and the designated watchdog for his probation, you devoted a small part of your officer’s log to describing Sollux’s behavior, isn’t that right?”

““Umm yes, that was standard procedure.”

Vriska approached the judge and witness stand with a sheet of paper.

““This is a sheet from your log, detailing the events of a day near the end of that month, do you recognize that log?”

How the hell did she get that log? Terezi and John both began sweating. 

““Yes, this is an authentic copy.”

““Excellent. Would you please read from the bottom of that log, at the start of the third paragraph?”

John gulped. This was not going to end well. 

““Officer Captor remains difficult and hostile. He approaches his work aggressively, and has on multiple occasions charged in without considering all the evidence, often jumping to conclusions.”

Vriska moved for the log to be entered into evidence, but all the jury heard was the three damning words: “jumping to conclusions”. 

John was excused from the stand, and Terezi called Dr. Lalonde to testify as to Sollux’s psychiatric evaluation. By the end of the testimony, Terezi had managed to salvage Officer Captor’s reputation in the eyes of the jury, but she wasn’t sure how well it would hold up. 

When the judge called for cross examination, Rose locked eyes with Vriska, their icy glares only upping the tension in the silent courtroom. Vriska broke the silence with a laugh.

““No cross examination is necessary your Honor.”

Terezi refused to be thrown, though she was surprised. Did Vriska not even want to dispute the results of the examination, or did she have some other ace up her sleeve?

Then came the lynchpin in Terezi’s case, the testimony of Officer Captor himself. As he rose to take the stand, all eyes were on him. 

And what came from Sollux’s mouth was the pure, unabashed truth. Terezi slowly teased from him every painstaking detail of his probation and work with Egbert, the process through which his probation was lifted, and his assignment to the serial killings case.

It was that last part that took up the most time. Terezi walked Sollux through every individual moment of that day, the agony of finding out that Lt. Leijon had fallen in the line of duty, the revulsion at the gruesome nature of the slayings, the commitment he felt to his job and the preservation of the public. 

When Sollux was done, the jury no longer saw an unstable officer or a walking trainwreck. What they saw was a hero, a man who had seen his comrades fall and had stayed devoted to his duty above all else.  
As Sollux described working the case and the slow methodical way he had solved the puzzle before him, the jury began seeing another Sollux, Sollux the mighty detective, the genius policeman who did what nobody else could. 

And then he took him to the rainy night that had ended in Dr. Ampora’s capture. As he described the night in meticulous detail, Terezi could swear she could feel the rain pound down on her. He described the way the energy beam cut across the sky, it’s outline like lightning but somehow green and diseased.

Sollux swallowed in preparation for the next part, and Terezi gave him a minute to compose himself.

And then he told them how Feferi had died, and how he had successfully apprehended Dr. Ampora.

Terezi thanked him for his testimony and sat down.

As Vriska stood up, she quickly calculated her next move. It was growing near time to cheat. 

She walked with a swagger up to the witness stand, hoping to catch some glint of rage in Sollux’s eyes, but she found nothing. That was all right too. 

““Do you make it habit to bungle your investigations by rushing into them, Officer Captor?”

““Excuse me?”

““I said: do you make it a habit to ruin your investigations with bazen incompetence, or was this a one time deal?”

Sollux steeled himself. She was trying to get to him, to use him. He wouldn’t let that happen twice. 

““I think you’ll find, councilor, that my investigation was not only through, but resulted in the capture of a serial killer, and I imagine that the jury would agree.”

Vriska allowed herself a small wince. Time to stop playing softball.

““You are the only one who claims to have seen this “green lightning”, isn’t that right Officer?”

““Yes.”

““And you didn’t even see Dr. Ampora pull the trigger, did you?”

““I saw the direction from which the lightening erupted and saw Dr. Ampora on the rooftop from which the lightning emanated.”

Vriska’s voice turned to acid. She was losing her patience. 

““That’s not what I asked you Officier. I asked you if you saw him pull the trigger.”

““I did not.”

Vriska could see she still wasn’t getting where she wanted. One last shot at this.

““Was it hard for you when your ex-wife died, Officer Captor?”

““You bitch...”

““Excuse me Officer Captor? I need you to speak up so that everyone can hear you. Was it difficult to cope with the knowledge that your ex-wife was dead? I had heard a rumor you still had feelings for her.”

Terezi lept up to object, but Judge Makara hammered his gavel until she sat back down. If the judge was one thing it was a sucker for a show. 

Sollux could feel the rage boiling up inside him. Every ounce of him hated her, and he was so close...it would be so easy to slam her head against the witness stand. 

And then Vriska did the thing that ruined her. 

She smiled at Sollux. 

In an instant, Sollux realized what was happening. He saw that he was being used, manipulated yet again by a tricky attorney who realized she had already been beaten. And he wouldn’t let himself be used twice. 

So Sollux turned the question against her. 

““Yes, Ms. Serket, it was hard knowing that Prospit City lost yet another upstanding citizen at the hands of that monster!”

Sollux pointed at Dr. Ampora, who at this point was visibly worried. Terezi grinned. 

Vriska retreated, announcing the conclusion to her cross examination. As the trial reached the midway point, the prosecution heaved a sigh of relief, even if they weren’t out of the woods yet. Terezi announced the conclusion of the prosecution’s case and leaned back in her chair, ready for whatever else Vriska had to offer. 

As Vriska tore through her case, Terezi could tell that she wasn’t putting everything into it. It was obvious that her gambits had failed, and she was trying to make the best of a bad situation. 

Every defense that Vriska threw up Terezi tore down immediately. The “nuclear engineer” was revealed as a fraud, the “close friend” of Dr. Ampora was revealed to be a very heavily bribed acquaintance, and the lame attempt at an alibi made by Dr. Ampora himself was quickly dismantled. Terezi had forgotten how weak the minds of the simple were, and how easy it was to crack them like a nut. All it took was enough pressure, enough inconsistencies, and just the right amount of intimidation. 

She had to fight every impulse not to cackle. 

At the conclusion of the trial, Terezi stood to give her opening statement. She carefully paced the courtroom, giving the jury a simple breakdown of the facts of the case. She reminded them of Dr. Harley’s findings, of the radiation that linked Dr. Ampora’s lab to the victims, and of Officer’s Captors heroic efforts to catch Dr. Ampora. She reminded them of how quickly the defense had crumbled, and how plausible the prosecution’s case remained.

““Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we had the responsibility to prove to you beyond any reasonable doubt that Eridan Ampora was the serial murderer of four of the finest citizens Prospit City has ever had, and we proved that to you today. I ask you now to deliberate carefully, analyze the evidence we have prepared for you, and find the defendant guilty, because today justice must win.”

Terezi took a small bow, visible only to those that were looking for it. Vriska stood to give her closing statement, but as she walked to the jury box, she could feel her heart just wasn’t in it anymore. Terezi had fought a good battle and won, and there was nothing she could do about that. There would be other battles, she supposed. 

Vriska’s statement was short and determined, careful to make the point she had come to make. She reminded the jury that the prosecution had no murder weapon, nothing besides anecdotal evidence linking Dr. Ampora to the attack, no proof that these were anything other than strange lightning strikes except for some radiation, and that all the eyewitness testimony came from a police officer who was unstable and jumped to conclusions.

But as she sat down, she could tell it didn’t take. She couldn’t besmirch Sollux’s name so easily this time. 

An hour later, the jury had reached a guilty verdict, and Dr. Ampora was led away in chains. As the witnesses and media streamed out of the courtroom, Terezi was swarmed by reporters, who she managed to bat away. She began to feel lost in the crowd, and in the roar of cameras and questions, she lost track of Vriska, who had silently slipped away without a trace. Terezi felt Dave’s reassuring arm wrap its way around hers, and though she felt comforted, something was still not quite right. When the excitement had died down, Terezi told Dave that she had a little more work to do in her office, and asked him to go on without her. She promised him she would find her own way home. Dave wasn’t sure, but wasn’t about to argue with his boss. 

Minutes after Dave left, Terezi was waiting in the doorway to her office, for what she wasn’t entirely sure. 

And then she heard the familiar click of high heeled boots down the hallway, moving towards her. The boots clicked closer and closer until they were directly behind her. Terezi turned and addressed the figure behind her. 

““Good game.”

She heard Vriska laugh, unrestrained at last, she sounded wild and dangerous. 

““That was just round one.”

Vriska immediately wrapped her arms around Terezi again, this time turning her to press her against the frame of the door. Vriska’s hands dropped to Terezi’s waist, while Terezi’s were a little more adventurous, the left making its way to Vriska’s outer thigh while the right worked to tear off Vriska’s suit jacket. As their lips locked, Terezi felt a passion she hadn’t felt in months, a unique combination of lust and hate, love and rivalry. Terezi did not know what Vriska was to her, except that she was hers, and that was final. 

As Terezi slid her left hand underneath Vriska’s skirt, and Vriska’s hands got to work on Terezi’s clothes, Terezi knew immediately that it was going to be a long night.

And unlike the trial, there may not be as clear a winner this time, even if Vriska liked to think she was somehow in the lead.


End file.
